welcome
If you could have been alive at any point in time (excluding biblical history), when would you choose and why?
worship
Read through Psalm 145 section by section. You might want to get three or four people to take a section each and use it as a basis to pray and thank God for who He is.
word
We are going to be looking at the passage in Matthew 5:13-16. Before reading it let's set it in context. The passage is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Here he gave directions for living in his kingdom, proclaiming his attitude towards the law and explaining the importance of faithful obedience from the heart. He was preaching to a crowd which appeared to grow as the sermon continued. Amongst those present would have been the Jewish teachers of the law.
read
questions
- What do you think is the principle of this passage?
- Why do you think Jesus uses the analogy of salt and light?
- What makes them good examples for the people he was talking to?
Up until this point, the Jewish religious leaders were dominated by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees, in particular, were teaching that obeying laws and doing acts of righteousness was what was required in the kingdom. Jesus is saying something different in this passage. He is saying that it is not just the odd action, but our lifestyle as a whole that demonstrates obedience and consequently makes us different from others.
Referring back to the principle of the passage, consider how living a life of ‘saltiness’ might be different from what the Jewish teachers thought was appropriate.
Consider Jesus’ statement that, "you are the light of the world."
question
What is He saying in the following couple of verses about how we can effectively ‘reflect’ the gospel? What have we already learnt about that in v13?
Discuss how you could apply what you have learnt from this study to your university:
- Are there areas where Gods’ word isn’t being spoken and where there aren’t any Christians being ‘salty’ – demonstrating that there is a different way of doing things?
- Now think about your Students' Union. What is it like?
- What are its attitudes toward different issues?
- How might you go about influencing some of the attitudes that permeate your SU?
witness
Use this time to think about the people you know who do different things in the life of your university, whether it’s being a club captain or being an Exec Officer. Think about how you could support them in their job and take some time to pray together for those individuals now. You might want to put their names on a regular prayer list so that they don’t get forgotten!
